Enemies And Traitors
by Kajesera
Summary: AU, beginning set in the Crystal Catacombs of Ba Sing Se. "Well, look at this. enemies and traitors, all working together." Well said, Azula.
1. Decisions, Decisions

**Enemies and Traitors**

by Kajesera

**disclaimer: Avatar: The Last Airbender and its characters do not belong to me. This is a work of fan-fiction only.**

SUMMARY: "Well. Look at this. Enemies and traitors, all working together."

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CHAPTER ONE: Decisions, Decisions.

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"You are free to choose." By the smug quirk of her mouth Zuko immediately assumed that his sister had already predicted his next move: join her, defeat the Avatar and his waterbender, and return home with honor and glory and Father's love restored. But had he really had Ozai's love to begin with?

Zuko considered option two: rescue Iroh and escape with their lives. Find a small, isolated Earth Kingdom village and live out the rest of their lives as refugees.

Then there was option three, which was to free Iroh, join the Avatar, teach him firebending, and aid him in the defeat of his homeland. Return with Iroh, as the formerly-banished, still-shamed, possibly-hated, prince. Rule someday, maybe. Try to restore balance into the world. Hope his people didn't kill him within the year.

"You are stronger, and wiser, and freer than you have ever been," Iroh had said. And now he was at a crossroads. Choose what Azula had expected and return to the path he had gone down before. Choose a coward's path and live out life unremembered, unacknowledged. Zuko could only imagine what people would say, fifty years from this day. "_Remember Prince What's-his-face, of the Fire Nation? Scarred, banished, and never seen again after he fled from Ba Sing Se? The coward."_

Zuko chose.


	2. Enter Azula

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CHAPTER TWO: Enter Azula.

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"We've got to find Sokka and Toph!" were the last words out of Katara's mouth before a blaze of bright blue inferno shot straight at their faces. Aang spun and barely got a defense up in time.

"Azula," he groaned.

Katara swept a coil of water from the pool at her side, and, running parallel to it, built and guided a wave in Azula's direction. Clouds of steam billowed as Azula's own wall of fire collided with the water. Then the princess was running up the side of one of the large green crystals, firing at them the whole way.

As one, Aang and Katara dipped their hands in the direction of the pool, pulling a barrier of water up to counter the flames. Aang turned and his arms jerked and pulled, and the column Azula had landed on trembled and fell. The princess herself dropped to a spot conveniently between the two benders, her stance poised and ready. Her sharp eyes shifted from Aang to Katara, and back to Aang.


	3. Luck

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CHAPTER THREE: Luck.

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"Come on, Uncle!" Zuko stopped short. "Where are you going?"

"I must find the earthbender and the water tribe warrior. They went to warn the Earth King." Iroh flapped his hand. "You go ahead. We will meet back at the Jasmine Dragon. If you can't make it there, find a way out of the city."

"Good luck, Uncle."

"I don't think I'm the one who will need it, Zuko." And he was gone, vanishing down a side corridor Zuko hadn't noticed before.

Sprinting out of the tunnel, flames erupted from his hands without warning.

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AN: Since the chapters in this story are going to be relatively short from here on out, start expecting two or maybe even three coming out at a time every few days. Reviews would be greatly appreciated. :)


	4. Orange

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CHAPTER FOUR: Orange.

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A wave of searing heat swept by Aang's face and all he could see was orange. A vast canvas of living, flickering, dancing, orange before it died. The catacombs passed in a blur as he snapped his head to the source of the flame, and the first thing that came to mind was, _Oh, great. Zuko._


	5. When Evil Smiles

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CHAPTER FIVE: When Evil Smiles.

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One stride, two strides, and Zuko was inches away from stepping in between Azula and the Avatar. Amber eyes glanced to the expectant princess. She glared back at him and his gaze swapped to the young boy standing to the right. Unconsciously his eyes narrowed. Zuko's arms tensed and Aang gasped, fingers rapidly stirring the air.

Azula smiled.

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AN: again, I apologize. I'm very aware that these are very, very, VERY short, but I've been stretched thin over the past few days, and probably will be even more so over the next month, so don't be expecting much. If an update hasn't arrived for over a week feel free to kick me.


	6. Trust Me?

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CHAPTER SIX: Trust Me?

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Surprised was an understatement. Considering the circumstances, Katara couldn't even believe she was so calm. Subtle was not an appropriate adjective for the way that Zuko had chosen to announce his new loyalties—he'd nearly fried Azula to a crisp, hurling a bonfire at her shocked expression.

To Katara's left, Aang's fingers had frozen as he struggled to pick his jaw up off the floor. To her right, Azula and Zuko were exchanging blows in a flurry of raging flames, sparks spitting and hissing in all directions.

They were spinning, twisting, dipping, stepping in circles, going round and round and round each other. Then Katara saw it. Slowly, subtly, Zuko was manipulating Azula's footsteps to edge her closer and closer to the water pool. His eyes glanced over his sister's shoulder and met Katara's.

_If you ever had a reason to trust me, trust me now._

One step, two, three, another, and the Fire Nation princess was inches away from the edge, grinning maliciously.

"I never thought you'd turn out this way, Zuzu," she purred. "Wonder what Father will think when he hears? Ah, well. What a shame. I'm about to become an only child." The sound that sprung from her mouth was too cruel to be a laugh as her fingers twitched.

Blue energy danced and flickered around her fingertips, and her arms began to swivel. The familiar crackle of lightning echoed in the cavern. Katara raised her hands and reached for the water, tentacles of liquid coming up behind Azula to grab her wrists. With a mighty yank, the princess toppled backwards into the pool, and then Aang bounced forward, and blew a think coating of ice over the water.

Katara grabbed Zuko's arm. "Come on! The ice will only hold for so long!" True enough, a pocket of orange was beginning to form right about where Azula's hand should be.

Numbly he followed, and together they sprinted to the tunnel, Aang right on their heels. Through they went, and with the sound of ice cracking, the pathway closed behind them. Wordlessly Zuko lit a small flame in his palm and started off in the direction he'd come from, turning to the semi-hidden passage-way his uncle had gone into.

"Uncle went to free your brother and the earthbender," he mumbled. "He said they'd meet us back at his tea shop." He didn't know how to act around these people, now. It used to be so simple.

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AN: It's the weekend here, so I was finally able to write a nice, long(er) chapter for you guys. Thank you so much for your patience with me. :)


	7. Freedom

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CHAPTER SEVEN: Freedom . . .

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Aang didn't know what to think as he cleared a way up through the rubble and the crystals and the dirt. But he saw the genuine, if silent and slightly stinted, want for redemption in the older boy's eyes, and maybe, he thought, as he lifted the three of them upward into the sunlight, that maybe Zuko should be given another chance, regardless of what he'd tried to do to them in the past.

The sun's rays were blinding, for an instant, and Aang's eyes had begun to water at the acuteness of the light. He heard Zuko grunt, and there was a shuffle of fallen leaves as his vision adjusted. Then a hand, tanned and roughened, appeared in front of him.

"Aang? Aang, we've got to hurry."

And then they were on their feet again, all three of them, charging without reserve for the gate that was slowly inching closed, the Dai Li hot on their tails. Aang lunged and spun, and from his hands a gust of air blew ahead of them, as the gate slammed back open.

And now they ran for dear life and precious freedom because the fate of the world now depended on it more than ever before.

- - -

Zuko lead the way, the rhythm of his pounding feet echoing in his ears as he mindlessly navigated through the crowds of people, shoving the ones that wouldn't move out of his—their, he corrected—way.

Glancing back he could see Katara's firm grip on her waterskin, and the Avatar's white knuckles as he clutched his staff. Neither of them were watching him, both checking over their shoulders for Dai Li agents.

"Zuko!"

His head snapped to his left. There, sprinting out of a narrow alleyway, were his uncle, Sokka, Toph, and the Earth King—_was that a _bear_?_ Iroh's forehead was beaded with sweat from the heat and the running, but the pure and almost gleeful triumph in his expression countered Zuko's immediate assumption of his Uncle's exhaustion.

"Where to now?" he asked.

"The Dai Li have already turned my tea shop inside out. So they," Iroh nodded to Sokka and Toph, "are taking us to the Avatar's bison."

"Okay."

Their positions shifted. Sokka and Aang took the lead, the Earth King and his bear following, with Iroh and Toph right behind them and Katara and Zuko taking up the rear.

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AN: I am finally out for the summer. :) Updates will be quicker and with less time in between...I apologize for the wait. Thank you for bearing with me.


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